An FN made AK 74, 47 ? drool...
An FN made AK 74, 47 ? drool...
I took my SAM5 back out to the range to do some more testing of the KNS adjustable gas piston. I tried some Tula 55gr FMJ 223Rem with the piston set at 35 clicks and found that the ejection distance was approximately on par with the Wolf 55gr FMJ 223Rem, which was about 7' average. I then adjusted the piston to 45 clicks and tried some Fiocchi 55gr FMJ 223Rem. It ran 100% with the spent cases going about 9' average. I then adjusted the piston to 55 click and shot some more of the Fiocchi 55gr FMJ 223 Rem. It still cycled 100% and the spent cases went about 8' average. Next I adjusted the piston to 59 clicks, which is the maximum number of clicks. Again, the Fiocchi ran 100% with the ejection about 7' average. I then ran some IMI 55gr FMJ 5.56x45 and the ejection was 100%, also about 7'. Finally, just for giggles, I adjust the piston down to 55 clicks and ran the same IMI ammunition. It ran 100% and the ejection went up to 8' average.
An interesting thing to note is that the brass cases don't get much of a ding at all when the piston is properly adjusted. Typically AK's mangle brass cases, so this is a nice bonus.
My only dislike about the rifle is that it's overgassed to begin with. Of course that's typical of most AK's, especially those sold to commercial markets. This is resolved by using the adjustable gas piston, but that gas being bled off could have been used for more bullet velocity. That aside, I'm really pleased with this rifle. It's definitely one of my favorite AK's that I own.
Thanks for the update. Sounds like it needs range time at a course! :-)
Please do some research about steel jacketed ammo. I'm convinced they shorten the accurate life of barrels to a about 1/5 of what they get with copper jackets, based on my experience, a US Army study on various bullet jacket and powder types, and the Lucky Gunner steel case ammo test.
My 5.56 AK, an SLR-106, went from 2ish MOA to 6+ right around 6-7000 rounds of Brown Bear 55gr and Wolf 55gr. Swapping out the barrels is a major PITA, a gunsmith will charge your around $500 to do the work with parts you provide, and that's if you can find a replacement barrel.
It's easy to replace an AR15 barrel, and not expensive. 5.56 AKs aren't that nice. Just don't want anyone getting a nasty surprise in a few years like I did.
Now that I have this rifle adjusted to run M193, that's pretty much all I'll put in it going forward. Prior to 2020 I determined that buying steel cased 223Rem wasn't worth the price compared to brass cased 223Rem or 5.56x45. It might be this year, I don't know. Regardless, I have a good stash so that I don't have to buy right now.
I don't put much stock into the Lucky Gunner test. Doing mag dumps will screw up just about any barrel real quick
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Well, I didn't do any mag dumps with my SLR-106, just regular 2-gun and 3-gun shooting and practice. My accuracy went to hell at close to the same shot count as the lucky gunner test. That's a hell of a coincidence. In the LG test, the barrel shot with copper jacketed ammo was still accurate after 10,000 rounds while the barrels shot with steel jacket ammo were barely on paper at 6k.
I realized I don't have a link to the original source for that "Army" test, only what was posted here.
I didn't read this whole thread so this may have been answered but wasn't there a batch of Arsenal 556 with bad barrels. Or something bad that caused the barrels to severely degrade after a few thousand rounds?
I vaguely remember this was a thing about 10 years ago
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